


A Tame Way

by suallenparker



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And Friendship, F/M, First Kisses, Grief, Love Confession, Post Season 3, Romance, and our OTP taking care of each other, mentions of other characters dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 19:52:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8070505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suallenparker/pseuds/suallenparker
Summary: Phil and Melinda have a quiet mission and finally they are willing to talk about recent events.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Umbrella_ella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbrella_ella/gifts).



> This is a gift to the sweet @a-tardis-in-downton. Thank you for letting me be your secret agent! I took the title from the Eagles’ song “Seven Bridges Road” that you prompted me. I’m sorry it took so long to bring this story to you but I hope you enjoy this!

“ _And I have loved you in a tame way and I have loved you wild ” - The Eagles_

  
  


* * *

 

She had her love for him under control. Years of practice made her really good at that. She was his partner. Sometimes his confidant. Sometimes his friend, if work allowed for it. If he allowed for it …

They were better, now that he forgave her for going behind his back. Now that he was no longer losing his mind.

So much had happened. Ward. Hydra.

Rosalind died. Andrew died.

Four months ago she had buried the ashes of her ex husband with Phil at her side. He hadn’t said a word, but he had his hand on her back. And he was just there.

He was her friend, too. As much as she could let him. Allowing him close always was a bit dangerous. The closer they got, the harder it got to tame her emotional reaction towards him.

But today she felt secure. Today wasn’t about her feelings, it was about his.

“Ready to talk yet?” she asked as they walked back to their plane that she had landed on a little hill between tall trees.

He turned his head and raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

She stopped in front of the plane and pushed in the code to open the door. “That’s why you took me on this bogus mission, isn’t it? To talk?”

He grinned. “I just love a good Yeti chase.”

He did, but that wasn’t the point of this and they both knew it.

Yesterday morning he had called her in his office and briefed her about this mission they had to take. A mission that called for them to fly three hours out to nowhere because of some hints of alien life. Witnesses spoke of a big hairy creature with super human strength that fled into the woods as they came across it during their camping trip.

So Phil made her pack a back pack and they spent two hours following up on the witnesses’ claims to find … absolutely nothing.

Perfectly valid way for secret agents to spent their time.

At least she got to fly and for the last few hours there had been no chatter. Just them and the trees and like two squirrels.

The doors to the plane swooshed open and Phil sighed.

“We both needed a break,” he said. “You like to fly and silence and I …” he sighed again and shrugged. Suddenly he just looked tired. “They want to replace me as director,” he mumbled.

“I heard.” She turned around and leaned against the cold metal of the plane. The doors would close again, but this seemed like a conversation that was better to be had being surrounded by greenery and peace then a plane.

“Do you still think they should?”

Ouch.

He glanced at her. “Because I think they should.”

Damn it. “Rosalind?”

He sighed. “And Ward. And Daisy. And everything else.”

The pleasures of being the cavalry. Melinda swallowed. “What do you want to do?”

He snorted. “Is Australia still an option?”

“We can make it in two hours if we leave right now.”

He smiled at her. A sad smile.

They were both just so tired! She reached out and touched his arm. “Phil …”

“I’m glad they replace me. I’m just …” He shrugged again.

“You wanna hide.”

“Yes.”

“And you want to fix everything.”

“Yes.”

She knew that feeling all too well. She ran her hand down his arm and took his. “You can’t do either.”

“I know.”

Of course he did. She sighed and squeezed his hand. “You’re a good agent.”

He tilted his head.

“You’re a good man, too.” He really was. The best. She raised a brow and squeezed his hand again. “When you’re not a jerk.”

That made him laugh dryly. Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry I was so selfish. If I hadn’t -”

She shook her head and he closed his mouth. He looked at her with his beautiful eyes and she hadn’t seen him this lost ever since he came back through that portal. He broke her heart.

“You saved me, you know that?” she asked. It was so obvious to her but just minutes ago he had asked her if she wanted him to be replaced as director, as if she would still doubt his abilities. As if he didn’t know where her loyalties lay. “After Bahrain I couldn’t -”

“I know.”

She pressed her lips together. “No, you don’t.” Even after killing that girl, she still loved what she did. What kind of person loved violence like that? She licked her lip. “I love my job. I _love_ it.”

“You’re very good at it, too.” He ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

That wasn’t the point. For years she had hated herself for that, had punished herself. He put a stop to that. “If you hadn’t needed me back,” she said, “I would still be behind that desk and be miserable.”

“You assembled the team, remember?”

“Because you died and I couldn’t bear …” She wouldn’t be able to live without him. For three days she had thought he had died and she couldn’t go back to that hell. She simply could not.

She swallowed. “So I came back to make sure you’d be okay.”

“You did a fantastic job.” He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Did I thank you for that lately?”

“You saved me,” she repeated. She needed him to know that.

“Melinda …”

“You did.” She looked down. “You do.”

The silence that followed convinced her that she said too much. But when she tried to pull away her hand, he kept hold and cleared his throat.

“Everything you want from me, you can have,” he said. His voice was low and raspy.

He squeezed her hand and she looked at him again.

“Everything,” he added.

Her heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t so much his words, but the look in his eyes.Sometimes he looked like that and she got hope that they could be something and that all her self control wasn’t needed. Then the moment passed and she thought she just imagined it.

This time it didn’t pass. They held hands and he looked at her lips. She tiptoed and leaned into him. Her eyes fell shut and she could feel his breath on her face. And then his soft lips touch hers. Gently. Sweet. And just too briefly.

He brought up his other hand and cradled her face before he kissed her again. Her whole body tingled.

He pulled away and ran his fingers through her hair before he dropped his hand to his side.

They still held hands. They were still connected. And that look in his eyes made her catch her breath.

She wanted to kiss him again.

“I love you,” he said.

And just like that, time stopped. She couldn’t think.

When he tried to pull away his hand, she came to her senses again. “I love you, too,” she rasped.

He pulled in a sharp breath. “I mean, not only in a friend way, I mean, I love you.”

She smiled at that. “I kissed you first.”

“You did.” He smiled too and squeezed her hand, before he sobered up. “What about Andrew?”

His words hit her like an open palm. “Do you want me to feel guilty?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I don’t want to take advantage of your grief.”

“What about Rosalind?”

“She … “ He sighed. The pause he took makes her stomach clench.

“I feel guilty for her death.” he added. “I don’t feel guilty because of this.” His voice was so soft. “Maybe a little bit guilty.”

She squinted at him.

“I loved you before. I loved you for years.” He sighed. “Thought I could stop.”

“Why?” His words make barely sense to her.

He shrugged. “Because of SHIELD regulations and then you found Andrew.”

What?

He shrugged again and gave her a half looped smile.

“Since then?” she asked.

“Since I saw you.”

She kissed him and with a sigh he wrapped his arms around her waist. For a moment she allowed herself just to lose herself in his arms and his scent and his taste. She hadn’t felt this save and happy in years. He loved her! Oh my God, he loved her.

Smiling, she kissed him again before she mumbled into his ear, “Good thing you’ll be demoted then.” She nibbled at his earlobe. “Dating my boss would’ve been awkward.”

He laughed and turned his head, seeking her lips once more.


End file.
